Valve Guide And Spring Retainer Assemblies - Patent 8147227

The invention relates generally to high-pressure plunger pumps used, for example, in oil field operations. More particularly, the invention relates to valve guides and spring retainers for use in plunger pump housings that incorporatestructural features for stress-relief and for accommodating valve guide and/or spring retainer assemblies.BACKGROUND Engineers typically design high-pressure oil field plunger pumps in two sections; the (proximal) power section and the (distal) fluid section. The power section usually comprises a crankshaft, reduction gears, bearings, connecting rods,crossheads, crosshead extension rods, etc. Commonly used fluid sections usually comprise a plunger pump housing having a suction valve in a suction bore, a discharge valve in a discharge bore, an access bore, and a plunger in a plunger bore, plushigh-pressure seals, retainers, etc. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional schematic view of a typical fluid section showing its connection to a power section by stay rods. A plurality of fluid sections similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1 may be combined, assuggested in the Triplex fluid section housing schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. Valve terminology varies according to the industry (e.g., pipeline or oil field service) in which the valve is used. In some applications, the term "valve" means just the moving element or valve body. In the present application, however, theterm "valve" includes other components in addition to the valve body (e.g., various valve guides to control the motion of the valve body, the valve seat, and/or one or more valve springs that tend to hold the valve closed, with the valve body reversiblysealed against the valve seat). Each individual bore in a plunger pump housing is subject to fatigue due to alternating high and low pressures which occur with each stroke of the plunger cycle. Conventional plunger pump housings typically fail due to fatigue cracks in one ofthe areas defined by the intersecting suction, plunger, a